Stocks slid on Friday as traders headed for a mostly losing week amid a shift away from tech and artificial intelligence-related names as well as a rise in oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial index beat a retreat of 175.28 points to 52,002.41
The S&P 500 index dumped 84.62 points, or 1.1%, to 7,659.44
The tech-heavy NASDAQ cratered 572.99 points, or 2.2%, to 26,140.03.
Chipmakers were lower again, led by declines in Micron Technology, Advanced Micro Devices and Sandisk.
Semiconductors have struggled this week amid jitters about competition from China.
Those declines, coupled with drops in other stocks linked to AI, put the S&P 500 on pace for a losing week. The benchmark index is down more than 2% this week, while the NASDAQ has shed nearly 5%.
The tech-heavy index was on track for its worst week since April 2025. The Dow, on the other hand, has moved higher by less than 1% on the week.
Investors have also grown concerned that tech companies are borrowing too much for the AI buildout.
Shares of neoclouds like CoreWeave, which has seen its total debt rise to more than $51 billion, were down 13%, putting the stock’s week-to-date losses at more than 26%.
Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh spoke at an International Monetary Fund event in Bangkok overnight. And while he didn’t comment on whether the Fed would raise rates before year-end, traders took that as a sign that the central bank will hold policy steady later this month.
The CME Group’s FedWatch tool points to an 85% chance the Fed keeps its overnight rate unchanged at its Oct. 27-28 meeting.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were lower, poking up yields to 5.09% from Thursday’s 5.08%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices resurfaced $3.57 to $101.84 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $18.80 to $4,188.90 U.S. an ounce.
